Developer Blog: Endgame Improvements

Greetings adventurers! Asterdahl here to talk to you today about some upcoming improvements in The Maze Engine to a variety of endgame content, including: campaigns, Tiamat, and Stronghold Siege.

With the improvements to the queue system it will be easier than ever to queue for Tiamat, be it solo or with your friends and guildmates. You will also have more reason than ever to queue: the first time you defeat Tiamat in a week you will receive a “Cache of the Dragon Queen” regardless of hoard contributions. The cache contains a Greater Resonance Stone and a Major Astral Diamonds Voucher.

In addition, adjustments have been made across the board to make facing Tiamat more rewarding. In cases where you may have received a Minor Resonance Stone before, you will now receive at least a Resonance Stone or better. When the hoard has reached tier 2, a piece of elven armor will now drop 100% of the time. Finally, both defeating Tiamat and opening the Dragon Queen’s chest will now grant Seals of the Protector.

Tiamat won’t be the only large-scale content receiving reward adjustments. Winning Stronghold Siege will now grant a weekly “Cache of the Fallen,” containing a Greater Thaumaturgic Stone and a Major Influence Voucher. Four new strongboxes have also been added and may potentially be granted in place of vouchers when you finish Stronghold Siege, be it a win or a loss. These strongboxes will be marked as Influence, Astral Diamonds, surplus equipment, or gems. Opening them will grant a handful of epic vouchers of that type.

Unlike other strongboxes, these may also be donated directly to the coffer without opening them and act as an epic voucher themselves in that case. For those of you who prefer PvE content, these strongboxes will also be added to Greed of the Dragonflight, as well as non-demonic heroic encounters on the Stronghold map. In both cases, they may appear rarely instead of vouchers.

Last but certainly not least, a laundry list of adjustments are being made to every campaign prior to Underdark. One of the most commonly requested changes—the removal of Astral Diamonds from the cost of all boon tasks—is coming with The Maze Engine. In addition, Astral Diamond costs are being reduced and removed from a large number of other tasks across various campaigns.

Campaign adjustments don’t stop with Astral Diamonds. We’ve also revamped the stores to make them easier to navigate, significantly reduced the costs on equipment from campaign stores, made that equipment bind on account so you can purchase pieces for your alts, and made that equipment consistently equip level 61, with the item level scaling as you level.

We’ve also made specific improvements to Sharandar, namely the number of gold crescents and Feywild Sparks awarded from the daily quest “Battle for Sharandar.” Also, the number of Feywild Sparks awarded from the weekly quest “Arcane Reservoir” has been increased.

Thank you all for your continued feedback as we continue to make adjustments and improvements to endgame content. We look forward to your feedback on these changes!